grandma knows best (but daddy knows better)
by AtLoLevad
Summary: Moira thinks Oliver and Felicity's kids are ready for a Queen party. Oliver knows better, but he's determined to teach his mother a lesson. Felicity is less than thrilled with Oliver's plan


**A/N: Whoo, I've got some Future!Olicity goodness for you guys. Not much to say on this one, other than it was based on a still of Oliver and Felicity at Moira's party, two episodes ago. Um, read, review and enjoy =)**

* * *

"Okay, I'm going to need a very large glass of the best wine in the Queen wine cellar," Felicity winced as she saw the sheer amount of people that had been gathered into the formal ballroom.

"I promise you can have it as soon as we make a round and say hello," Oliver said, guiding Felicity into the room with his hand on the small of her back, "We really don't want a repeat of—"

"Shh! Shut up! I thought we agreed never to speak of that?" Felicity swatted Oliver's chest, "I didn't realize how strong those drinks were, and really, it's all Roy's fault."

"Sure, blame the former felon," Roy smirked as he and Thea came up behind the couple.

'I wasn't—I didn't mean to—" Felicity spluttered, "Oh, I give up."

Thea and Roy laughed at Felicity's reaction, while the woman in question dropped her head to Oliver's chest.

"Five years of marriage and I still can't manage to do the whole socialite thing," she sighed.

"I wouldn't want you any other way," Oliver said, "I already have to deal with too many socialites."

"If that was a dig in my direction, I'm hurt, big brother," Thea grinned.

Oliver shook his head, "It's never a shot at you, Speedy."

"Whoever is taking shots at the other had better stop now," Moira Queen said as she stepped up to the group, "You've all been standing here for too long. Thea and Roy, this is your engagement party, please welcome your guests."

"Right, of course, Mom," Thea planted a quick kiss on her mother's cheek and grabbed Roy's hand, pulling her fiancé to greet several people in the opposite corner of the room.

Oliver put his hand in Felicity's and tried to stealthily move her away, but Moira caught sight of him, "Oliver Queen, you are not going to get out of this."

Oliver shared a look with Felicity, "Mom, we would never try and—"

Moira raised an eyebrow, "Save it, Oliver. I raised you. I know that you and Felicity don't want to be here."

Felicity, never one hundred percent comfortable around her mother-in-law, said, "Oh no Moira, Oliver and I want to be here. It's a great party. Really. You and Thea did such a great job, and I would never leave one of your parties early."

Oliver watched as her face became pinker, matching the shade of her dress, and her voice became faster. Moira had an amused smile on her face, she had become very fond of Felicity and actually enjoyed the spurts of babbling the younger woman was prone to.

"Oh, I know, dear. It's Oliver. He's never been able to stand my functions, ever since he came home," Moira leaned in towards Felicity and whispered conspiratorially, "Between you and me, I think he became like an island native."

"Mom," Oliver groaned, for years she had hated to talk about his time spent on the island, now almost eight years after his return, she was able to joke about it.

"You might be right, Moira," Felicity smiled, "I know how much he hates to wear clothes."

Moira and Oliver both raised their eyebrows, as Felicity backtracked.

"Not like that! I mean, he wears clothes, obviously. And he also doesn't wear clothes since we have two kids, but you probably don't want to think about that. I don't want to think about that. I mean, Oliver, I love you and I like to think about you and oh god, this is not helping. I mean he doesn't like to wear tuxedoes for extended periods of time," Felicity covered her face with her hand, "I'm going to get a drink."

She pressed her clutch into Oliver's hands and hurried away. Oliver and Moira watched.

"Mom, you know you just like to provoke her," Oliver said, shaking his head.

"I don't know what you mean, Oliver. I love that girl. She is very amusing," Moira smiled, "Now, where are those grandchildren of mine?"

Oliver shook his head, his mother was exhausting, "We weren't sure if they were ready for a Queen party. John and Carly offered to babysit."

Moira waved her hand in the air, "Oliver, the kids have to learn how to come to parties early in life. You call up John right now and tell him and Carly to bring the kids. I want to see them."

"Mom," Oliver protested, "You saw them this morning and you'll see them tomorrow."

"I don't care, Oliver. I would love to have them at their Aunt Thea's engagement party," Moira turned and walked away as soon as she was done talking, signaling to Oliver that her word was law.

Felicity, having seen Moira walk away, made her way back across the room to stand next to her husband, "What did she say? Did I completely make a fool of myself?"

"Mom loves you, don't worry so much," Oliver smiled and pulled Felicity close, "What are you drinking?"

"Ginger ale," Felicity held her glass up for Oliver to take a sip, "I figured steering clear of alcohol might be a good idea for me, what with the lack of filter and all."

"Probably a smart idea," Oliver grinned, nudging Felicity with his hand.

"You are the worst. What did your mom say? Is she totally ashamed to have me as a daughter-in-law?" Felicity asked, worrying her necklace's pendant with her fingers.

"First of all, she loves you. Second of all, she wants the kids to be here," Oliver said, pulling Felicity's hand away from her necklace.

"The kids? Why? They're with John and Carly," Felicity said.

"I know. That's why we have to call and tell Dig to get dressed up and bring them," Oliver was already sliding his phone from his jacket pocket and dialing.

Felicity took a long drink from her glass of ginger ale. She loved her son and daughter, but they were rambunctious, not exactly the personality types for a fancy Queen party.

* * *

Diggle and Carly had, understandably, decided not to stay for the party. If she was being honest, Felicity wished she could have gone with them. Now that they were free from babysitting duty, the couple was going to catch a late night movie and some dinner.

"Okay guys, this is Auntie Thea's party. You have to be on your very best behavior," Felicity was crouched down next to her son and daughter.

Bea rocked on her heels, "Momma, how come we couldn't stay with Uncle Dig and Aunt Carly? We were gonna watch _Frozen_."

Felicity looked up at Oliver for advice. He shrugged, adjusting 3-year-old Theo in his arms.

"Uh, well, your Grandma wanted you guys to be here and so did Auntie Thea and Uncle Roy. And you love parties! Daddy will even dance with you later," Felicity promised on behalf of her husband.

The five-year-old lit up at the promise of a dance with her dad.

"Okay! I promise I'll be the bestest girl ever," she squealed, grabbing hold of Felicity's hand.

"Great! Now, how about you run over and say hello to your grandmother," Felicity pointed to Moira.

Bea grinned and took hold of Theo's little hand, dragging him across the room to see their grandmother.

Oliver helped Felicity to her feet, "I really don't think she understands what she got herself in for."

"Nope," Felicity nodded, "I think she thinks they'll behave. Clearly that's not going to happen."

The couple watched as Bea tugged on Moira's dress and then stomped her foot when Moira apparently told her to wait a minute.

Oliver couldn't stifle the laugh that came when Theo blew a raspberry in Moira's face. Felicity swatted his arm.

"Oliver! That's not funny. Maybe I should go and get them?"

She moved to step forward, but Oliver kept his grip on her arm, "Nope. My mother has to learn."

"Okay," Felicity murmured reluctantly, "But if she says anything, I'm throwing you straight under the bus on this one."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Oliver said, kissing the side of Felicity's head.

* * *

"UNCLEEEEEE BARRYYYYYY!" Bea broke free from Oliver's vice grip, jumped off of his lap and sprinted as fast as her tiny legs would take her across the room.

Barry Allen grunted but smiled happily as she barreled into his knees.

"Hey, Bee. What's going on?" he asked, swinging her up onto his hip.

The tiny blonde giggled, "Theo throwed up on Gramma cause he ated too many cookies at Uncle Dig's."

Barry winced, "Uh, that's not good."

"Nope!" Bea shook her head, "Mama apologized a million gazillion times cause Gramma looked sad."

"Well, that sounds about right," Barry mused to himself as he walked over to where Oliver, Roy and Thea were sitting.

Oliver was frowning, "Bea, I thought we talked about running and shouting?"

Bea shrugged, "I'm only five. I forget."

The three adults that weren't parents forcibly suppressed laughter. Even Oliver looked like he might crack. Instead he shook his head and pulled Bea back into his lap.

"Hello, Barry. Good to see you," Oliver greeted the other superhero with a hand shake, "Although, I thought you might've solved the lateness issue."

Barry laughed, "I'm still working on that. Iris is helping me."

"Good," Oliver nodded, handing Bea a roll of bread.

"Oh, Barry!" Felicity came up behind them, "It's good to see you!"

She gave him a one armed hug, Theo leaning, half-asleep, on her shoulder.

"Good to see you too, Felicity. I, uh, heard about…" he gestured to Theo, now clad in a pair of Doctor Who pajamas.

Felicity closed her eyes, "Oh God, don't even remind me. I did not sign up for this."

Thea piped up, "Seriously, I have no idea what mom was thinking. You really should take the babies and go home. They don't want to be stuck at this dumb party. _I_ barely want to be here anymore."

"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Bea shouted, waving her hand in the air and smacking Oliver with the half-eaten bread roll.

Thea's eyes widened, "Of course! Right, you're a big girl. Theo's a baby, though. Right?"

Bea nodded, "Right. Theo's a big baby."

Oliver sighed, "Thanks, Speedy. We're trying to get her to stop calling him names."

"Oh, sorry, Ollie. I didn't realize," Thea apologized.

"Why is everyone just sitting around?" Moira came over, one hand on her hip.

The small group shared a look, but no one wanted to say anything.

Oliver finally spoke up, "Mom, don't you think it's time for us to wrap this up?"

"Nonsense, Oliver. The party is just getting started," Moira frowned at her son.

"Maybe for you, Mom. Bee and Theo are going to fade, and it's not going to be pretty," Oliver said, gently covering Bea's ears so she wouldn't hear him talking about her.

"All they need is a little food. They'll be good to go," Moira turned to walk away, "I think you forget, Oliver, that I raised you and Thea. Both of you did just fine at these kinds of functions."

Thea snorted. Moira chose to ignore her daughter, and walked away.

"Oliver, I really, really hate not listening to your mom, but I really don't think B-E-A is going to last much longer," Felicity said, running her hands through Theo's hair.

"Oh, you're right," Oliver said.

"So…we're going?" Felicity said, desperately hoping to leave.

"Nope," Oliver shook his head.

"No?" Thea, Roy, Barry and Felicity asked simultaneously.

"No," Oliver repeated, a smile spreading on his face, "Mom is definitely going to learn a lesson on this one."

Felicity shook her head, "I don't like whatever you have planned."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, when Bea was face down on the dance floor, kicking and screaming, Felicity realized she _definitely _didn't like Oliver's plan.

"Oliver!" she snapped, "I refuse to leave my baby girl throwing a tantrum on the floor."

"I'm going to get her in a minute."

Moira came running over, "Oliver! What is going on? Why is Bea screaming?"

"We told you mom. She did not need to be here this long," Oliver pointed out.

Moira narrowed her eyes, "Oliver Robert Queen, are you trying to punish me?"

Oliver shook his head, "Mom, I'm trying to let you know that Bea and Theo are kids. They weren't raised in the same way Thea and I were. They're not miniature socialites. And Felicity and I refuse to treat them as anything other than kids."

Felicity's mouth had dropped open. She couldn't believe Oliver was talking to his mother like that. And just as she opened her mouth to apologize for him, Moira started to laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Oliver. I've been so preoccupied with the engagement and the party planning…I just didn't realize what a terror I was being. Go, take the babies and sleep late tomorrow," she smiled, and pressed a kiss to her son's cheek.

She was two steps away when she turned around, "Oh, Felicity! I have to apologize to you too. You're their mother. You should be making the decisions for them to come or not. I overstepped my boundaries a little bit. I hope you'll forgive me."

Felicity blinked a few times, and then Oliver's nudge in the back jolted her out of her shock, "Oh! Of course. Yes. Totally forgiven. Um, thank you, Moira. Really. It was a great party. The kids loved it."

Oliver laughed, and steered Felicity back to the table, "Wait here and I'll get Bee."

Felicity nodded, "That was a good speech, Daddy."

"I do know my kids," Oliver winked.

"Probably because you are one sometimes," Felicity laughed.

"Only around these kids, only around them."

Felicity watched as he bent down and lifted Bea into his arms, whispering something to calm her down. She smiled happily as he started gently swaying on his way back to the table.

It looked like Daddy did know best.


End file.
